Srinagar, March 9 : Nasira Akhter of Kashmir who was awarded with “Nari Shakti Puraskar” award for developing a herb that converts polythene to ashes said the talented womenfolk should work with courage and do justice to their dreams to achieve success. “Our society is very talented whether they are women or anybody. They should give their talent justice alongwith courage and emotions so they will get the success”,Nasira Akhter told . She said it took me 20-years to complete my dream project after long discussions with several agencies across India, especially with Giyan Chand. “This was not a day’s work”, she said and added “I took this project with several agencies that took me twenty years to complete it”. Feeling very happy, Nasira Akhter said that “I have been honored after a long time with this award for the first time”. Nasira Akhter has been honored several times and had many awards in his kitty. She said that “I have sold the project to a company with whom I have a non-disclosure agreement”. Nasira Akhter thanked “Allah” the almighty first of all and the President of India Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the honour. She said talented girls from the Kashmir valley have capability to invent and work on several projects with their innovative mindset notwithstanding the environment inside or outside. She said when one gets the idea of creating something different the situation never becomes a hitch for him. “When my inner idea came out and I researched and invented the herb which destroys polythene reached the various companies of the country, and that makes me eligible for this prestigious award today”, Nasira Akhter said. She said the idea to work for the safeguard of the environment was in my mind for the past 20 years when I was listening to the radio and environmentalists were often discussing how polythene would be made biodegradable. Hailing from Kanipora village of South Kashmir’s Kulgam district, Nasira Akhter was awarded with the Nari Shakti Puraskar’ for her exemplary grass root innovation for environmental conservation. Nasira has been awarded for developing a herb that converts polythene to ashes-a biodegradable product that does not pollute the environment. Nasira Akhter is a grassroots innovator, who after working for over eight years, demonstrated an innovative way for making polythene biodegradable at Kashmir versity Science Instrumentation Centre and has developed a herb that converts polythene to ashes, a biodegradable product that does not pollute the environment. Interestingly, she has been recognized by Kalam World Record, Asia Book of Records, and India Book of Records among others while she has also received an honorary doctorate from World Record versity in London. She has been conferred with the Nari Shakti Puraskar for exemplary grass-root innovation for environmental conservation. After developing a herb, she has demonstrated the efficacy of the product at Kashmir versity’s Science Instrumentation Centre (KUSIC). With the help of her herb polythene can be burned into ashes with fewer fumes and without polluting the environment, something which is said can be a game-changer in dealing with the menace of polythene that has been polluting the environment in Kashmir as well as other places across the country. QAB SY 1637